By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album

Reviewed by Linda Bobroff, PhD, RD, LD/N, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida

How often do you have a day at work where you feel overwhelmed by all the complicated, difficult tasks ahead of you? Sometimes it may seem like there’s just way too much to think about, read, plan, and handle.

The Benefits of a Challenging Workplace

But if this describes your work life, there’s at least one reason to take heart. According to a recent German study, having a mentally challenging profession may protect you from developing dementia as you age.

In this study, over 1200 older adults over the age of 75 (15% of whom already had dementia) were given a comprehensive test of their cognitive functioning. They also provided information on their former occupations. Researchers rated the older adults’ former jobs in terms of how mentally stimulating they were in three areas: executive functioning skills (planning and carrying out complex tasks independently); verbal skills; and fluid intelligence skills (problem solving).

As Adults Aged, Those with More Complex Jobs Fared Better

The older people were then followed for eight years and reassessed periodically to see how they were doing in terms of dementia or diminished cognitive capacity. The researchers found that people who had held jobs that included tasks involving verbal intelligence started off with better cognitive function, compared with those who had worked in less verbally challenging fields. And as the years passed, people whose past jobs had required a lot of executive function skills showed significantly less cognitive decline than those who had worked in less mentally demanding jobs. All these findings took important factors like education, age, and living situation into account.

More Protective than Education

In fact, the differences found between older adults who’d held mentally demanding jobs and those who hadn’t were greater than the differences between older adults with high and low levels of education. (Having completed less education is known to be associated with a greater risk of developing dementia.)

When we consider the length and intensity of our working lives, this makes sense. Handling challenging and complex tasks over the course of a lifetime may help us build up a “cognitive reserve” that can protect our brains and preserve thinking skills as we get older.

So the next time you feel stressed out by the responsibilities and decisions you have to juggle on the job, think on the positive side. The brainpower you’re expending now may end up helping you stay sharp and focused in your golden years.

References:

Then, F. S., et al. (2015). Differential effects of enriched environment at work on cognitive decline in old age. Neurology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000001605

Photo Credits: shironosov/iStock/Thinkstock

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